Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday asked the Congress party’s leadership to act immediately to resolve the tension among Congress MLAs who were unhappy at being denied Cabinet berths, reported PTI.
“Yes, there is some tension [among the legislators], but I am confident that the Congress leaders will take the right decision,” he told ANI.
Several Congress legislators in Karnataka held meetings on Thursday in the state capital Bengaluru a day after they were denied Cabinet berths. The HD Kumaraswamy government inducted 25 ministers in the Cabinet on Wednesday. Senior Congress leaders, including Dinesh Gundu Rao, HK Patil, Shyamnur Shivashankarappa, Tanvir Sait, Satish Jarkiholi, NA Harris, Eshwar Khandre and MTB Nagaraj did not find a place in the Cabinet.
On Friday, Kumaraswamy met former Water Resources Minister MB Patil who had held a meeting on Thursday which was attended by MLAs such as MTB Nagaraj, Satish Jharkiholi, and Roshan Baig. “I have understood his [Patil’s] feeling of pain that he has worked for Congress party when it needed him, but feels let down now,” PTI quoted Kumaraswamy as saying. Patil said he would take a decision after consulting “other like-minded MLAs”, Kumaraswamy said.
“I request Delhi leaders [of Congress] to immediately act to find a solution,” the chief minister said after meeting Patil.
Patil, meanwhile, said that he should have been given a ministerial post in the first round of selection, reported The News Minute. “...just because they dumped me, I will not dump the Congress,” said Patil, adding that at least 20 MLAs were willing to join him.
Patil termed the chief minister’s meeting as a “courtesy visit” and said it was “an internal development” in the Congress and Kumaraswamy cannot do anything.
Senior Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, ministers DK Shivakumar, KJ George and RV Deshpande, too had met Patil to pacify him, reported PTI.
Shivakumar told ANI that the Congress party will fill vacancies in the Cabinet soon. “It is obvious that the senior leaders were hurt,” he said. “I have belief in the party high command. We have to build confidence among party workers.”
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